


you are everything that i die for

by kasttronaut



Category: Andromeda Six (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Blood Loss, Blood and Injury, Death, F/M, Gender Neutral Traveler, I am not a medical professional so please forgive any mistakes on that front, I'm so sorry Vexxmancers I just continue to hurt him, M/M, also MAJORLY not canon compliant, episode 3 spoilers, just a 'what if'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24602503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kasttronaut/pseuds/kasttronaut
Summary: Vexx made a promise. You only wish he hadn't kept it.
Relationships: Vexx Serif/Traveler
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	you are everything that i die for

This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

The crew knew that facing off against Zovack would be dangerous. You had all planned as much as you could, having backup plans on top of backup plans in case something went wrong. Calderon had drilled everyone on escape routes, what to do in hostage situations, procedures if you accomplished your goals unscathed-- all accounted for and planned out, though some endings were more likely to happen than others. 

Vexx wasn’t supposed to show his hand until the very end, just to make sure the Andromeda Six still had an eye on the inside if the false king got cold feet and ran. 

Nothing could have prepared you for this. 

Negotiating had been the initial plan, but no one expected it to fall apart as quickly as it had. Zovack wouldn’t see reason - you were the last Peg’asi child, the last true obstacle in his way, the one legitimate threat left to his rule. That you were here on Goldis, challenging him in what was supposed to be the seat of his power, was unforgivable.

You had to be exterminated no matter the cost, and since his underlings had fucked it up so badly the last time, it was up to him to make sure you stayed well and truly dead. 

Cal had shouted a warning as Zovack pulled a gun on you, but dodging a bullet hadn’t been in any of your royal lessons. Your blood rushing was all you could hear, the click of the trigger in front of you simply a figment of your imagination even as you saw Zovack start to press it, and then--

Clarity. 

Aya’s shriek, Ryona’s gasp, Bash and Damon’s cursing - all of it rang clear through your ears in less than a moment, as did the rushed footsteps you realized had started a few seconds before that, to have gotten as close as they did so quickly. 

And then there was the impact of a body slamming you sideways, the crack of the gun, a second crack - _June_ , always quick on the draw but not quick enough this time. As you hit the ground, several things happened at once. 

June, who apparently managed to hit Zovack, made a run for the false king with Cal and Ryona hot on his heels. 

Bash, Damon, and Aya engaged with the people who had been stationed around the room, making sure none of them could help their leader or rush you.

Vexx, who was a few feet away and had a hand clutched to his chest, collapsed to his knees with a groan, and suddenly everything around you sped up.

The sounds of the battles raging around you fade into a buzz as your vision tunnels on your former bodyguard and current lover. Your heart rate skyrockets as you realize - no, that’s not part of Vexx’s uniform curled around his hand. He’s not grabbing at his chest, he’s pressing against it.

That’s blood seeping through his fingers.

_This wasn’t supposed to happen._

You desperately try to call up the memory of Ryona’s lessons about basic humanoid anatomy as you crawl towards him. The bullet could’ve stopped before it hit his lungs. If that was the case, he’d have to be moved immediately after all of this was over so that he didn’t bleed out, but he’d be fine as long as you got him to the ship’s med bay. If it had managed to get between his ribs and pierce his lungs, you had even less time to get him to the ship before he either bled out, or his lung collapsed and he suffocated. 

“Vexx!” His head jerks at the sound of his name as you finally reach him, and he drops into your arms with a wet cough. Your heart sinks with him, but it’s when you see the blood staining his lips that you go numb. 

Zovack is either incredibly lucky, or you’re cursed to a life of unhappiness.

You don’t have time to figure out which-- Vexx coughs again, and you come to your senses. You can’t remember if you’re supposed to sit him up or not but you figure it won’t make much of a difference, so you lay him down and hover over him. 

You don’t know what you’re doing, you realize very quickly. Basic anatomy lessons haven’t prepared you for trying to prevent someone -for trying to prevent the _love of your life_ \- from bleeding out.

Tearing a piece of cloth off the hem of your shirt, you fold it and press it to his chest with one hand, lacing your fingers through his with the other. You remember that much, that you need to put pressure on the wound. You press down, maybe a little harder than you need to, and he winces.

“Are you hurt?” His voice is tight, but his eyes are darting across your face and what he can see of the rest of your body. 

The laugh that escapes you is mixed with a sob. “You’re the one who got shot and you’re asking me if _I’m_ hurt?” 

His smile is the softest you’ve ever seen it, his eyes memorizing your features. “I made...a promise. A long time ago. Nothing bad would happen to you.”

The statement is so absurd it makes you want to cry, but it’s just like him to remember that night so long ago. You wish more than anything that he’d meant it then like he meant it now - your time together would have been so much sweeter, and perhaps it wouldn’t be ending this quickly.

 _No._ You shift your clasped hands, holding them to your heart. Your cheeks are wet, you’re crying, but you try to keep your eyes open. You won't look away.

You can't.

“I also said I would never leave you again.” His voice is barely a whisper now, his breathing labored, and you tighten your grip on his hand. He’s almost gone and you both know it, you’d anchor him in this life with your touch alone if you could, but he’s lost too much blood. He’s _losing_ too much blood, you have to go find Ryona, you have to get help--

“Your Highness--”

“ _Do not call me that._ ” Your hiss is harsher than it should be in response to someone staring death in the face, but you can’t help it. If he’s formal with you right now you think you might break.

He breathes your name instead, using what little strength he has left to let go of your hand, reach into a hidden pocket on the inside of his jacket, and then place something in your empty palm. 

His dying breath is a wet laugh, more blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and his last words are solemn. “I’m sorry... we didn’t get to explore more. I love you.” His eyes are on your face until the light is gone from them, and you finally let your tears fall freely as his body goes limp in your arms. 

Vexx, who was dropped into your life and then disappeared months later without a word, who came back and _stayed_ , who you opened your heart to a second time and who had held you close ever since-- 

He’s gone.

He’s gone, and the small object he’s left in your hand is a folded piece of paper. You almost don’t open it-- you don’t want to let go of him, and some part of you knows that by reading whatever he’s written means you’re never going to hear from him again. No letters, no teasing, no soft words that were precious because you knew this time, without a doubt, they were real.

But as you go to open it, you notice the edges and creases are worn and soft in the way letters often read are, and although the paper has aged a bit, there’s no stains or damage. None of the corners are so much as bent.

Whatever this is, he read it often and took good care of it.

You unfold it, bit by bit, trying to savor this last surprise from him. The stationary is familiar, and as you fully open it you realize why.

Your handwriting is staring back at you. _Lieutenant Serif_ is scribbled out, with an emphatic _Vexx_ below it, and your stomach drops.

This is the last letter you ever wrote him before he disappeared from the palace, all that time ago. It was the first and last time you had addressed a note to him with his name instead of his rank. You had agonized over whether or not you should even write this.

You had written it anyway, and admitted you loved him in the process. You had signed it with _I’m yours_. 

When he’d been determined missing, you’d thought he hadn’t received it. He couldn’t have, or he wouldn’t have left you, surely? And then you’d run into him in Nos Vega and he _had_ left you, crying, in the alley. 

Pulling yourself out of your thoughts, an addition to the letter catches your eye, the note in the margin another familiar scrawl not your own:

_I read this every day I was gone and I’ve read it every day since._

And like that night in a Nos Vegan alley so long ago, Cal finds you crying, your entire world shattered once more in a way that’s torn out your heart and destroyed any hope you had that you’d be able to get out of this okay.

The captain is silent for a moment, letting you have the last of your vigil over Vexx for now, and then he rests a hand on your shoulder.

“You’ve restrained Zovack?” Your voice is calm, the eye of a hurricane. Cal says nothing, simply nods and offers a hand to help you stand up.

You tuck the letter Vexx handed you into a pocket and make sure it’s secure before gently running a hand over his eyes to close them. The loss of the bright green is a bone-deep ache, and you kiss his forehead goodbye. 

You will make sure he gets a burial befitting a war hero, but for now you accept Cal’s hand and rise from your ashes. 

“Take me to him.”

You are the last Peg’asi alive. Regardless of whether you want the title or not, you are the rightful heir to the Goldean throne and the Seleota System.

And you are going to make Jes Zovack pay for every life he has stolen from you.


End file.
